MAYOR Jessie Bellflowers MAYOR PROTEM Dr. Kenjuana McCray INTERIMTOWN MANAGER Chancer McLaughlin  TOWN BOARD Elyse Craver Jerry Legge Bryan Marley Joanne Scarola TOWN CLERK Ashley Wyatt  ROWN Op %  HOPE MILLS NORTH CAROLINA A PROUD PASTA BRIGHT FUTURE  TOWN OF HOPE MILLS BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Meeting Agenda - January 11, 2024 6:00 p.m. Special Budget Priorities Dinner Meeting  CALLTO ORDER = Mayor Jessie Bellflowers PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Mayor Jessie Bellflowers OPENING REMARKS BY INTERIM TOWN MANAGER  Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin introduced the presentation and outlined the flow of the meeting. Hel briefly addressed the main priorities oft the town as a whole, such as a tax increase as  onel had not been implemented in 10 years.  PRESENTATION  SUBJECT: FY24-25 Budget Priority recommendations by Department Heads  Town Clerk Ashley Wyatt spoke to the administrative needs of the Administration department. She addressed how incorporating an administrative assistant, increasing the training and travel Commissioner Scarola askedi ifthe' Town Manager's travel expenses came: from the Administration Mr. McLaughlin stated that some of! his travel expenses were incurred through administration but some things could still be expended from the planning department budget as well.  budget, as well as flexible remote work would help improve the department.  Department.  There were no additional questions.  Mayor Bellflowers welcomed all in attendance and stated that the budget priorities were a Commissioner Legge thanked staff for their work on the presentation and looked forward to the HR Director Leesa Jensen spoke to her portion of the presentation and highlighted her priorities which were digitizing and enhancing documents that pertained to HR, and adding an additional  culmination oft the needs of the departments, community, and Board.  upcoming budget season.  HR staff person that would assist with risk management needs.  Special Budget Meeting Minutes January 11,2024    Commissioner Scarola asked ifother digitizing software platforms had been explored. Ms. Jensen advised that the town was already using a program called Tyler and that it was doing well. However, to assist with her needs an upgrade ofthat software was needed.  There were no additional questions.  Stormwater Administrator Elisabeth Brown spoke to the needs ofthe stormwater department and requested $100,000k for cleaning and maintenance of the stormwater drains, outfalls, and shade Commissioner Legge asked if the town was having any trouble getting permission to go on  trees.  properties where any ofthe drains were. located. Ms. Brown stated that generally there were noi issues.  Commissioner Scarola asked where the $100k request came from and had it been budgeted  previously.  Ms. Brown advised that her department had some state funding.  Finance Director Drew Holland noted that the stormwater department had a separate fund outside Commissioner Craver asked if the cleaning of the drains and outfalls we done in house or Ms. Brown advised that the cleaning was contracted out and that the town did not have the Commissioner Craver asked ifi it would be more expensive for the town to purchase its own Ms. Brown responded that it was financially better to contract out because equipment was SO  oft the general fund. contracted out.  equipment to clean on its own.  equipment. expensive.  Mayor Bellflowers asked what the current budget for cleaning was. Ms. Brown stated that the cleaning required the full $100k. Mayor Bellflowers asked if Stormwater was requesting any vehicles. Ms. Brown stated that they were not requesting any vehicles. Mayor Bellflowers asked what grants if any were being pursued.    Ms. Brown advised that the grants that were available to the town would be known soon, 3 as there Mayor Pro Tem Dr. McCray, echoed what Ms. Brown said regarding the grants as she attended the meeting as well. She was excited to see what was to come from that conversation.  was a meeting earlier in the day regarding those options.  There were no additional questions.  Emily Weidner, Senior Planner spoke toi increased need for positions in the planning department,  such as a full-time planning director and GIS mapping.  Commissioner Scarola expressed excitement for addressing GIS needs. Mayor Bellflowers asked ifany oft the needs could be covered by grants. Mr. McLaughlin stated that the administration was pursuing grants on all fronts. Mayor Bellflowers asked what the proposed positions would be doing. properties, but that they could assist with residential as well.  Ms. Weidner stated that the main focus would be policing and keeping in compliance commercial  There were no additional questions.  Kenneth Tatum, Inspections Director spoke to his departmental priorities, which were staff retention, professional development, and budget support to achieve overall goals. He stated that his two permitting technicians were pulling double duty by greeting all the guests that entered the Mayor Pro Tem Dr. McCray asked why the two permitting technicians answered the phone for the Mr. Tatum responded that it was a budgetary issue and that a receptionist had been needed fora Mr. McLaughlin agreed with Mr. Tatum and acknowledged that a receptionist was needed. Mayor Pro Tem Dr. McCray stated that the Town was growing and that more staff was needed to Commissioner Marley asked how much the town was paying Cumberland County to monitor Mr. McLaughlin stated that it was around $46k and echoed Mayor Pro Tem Dr. McCray's point about staffing levels not growing with the rate and how remote work was very attractive for future  front lobby and processing payments.  entire building. long time.  keep up with the growth.  planning and administrating long range planning.  and current staff.    Commissioner Marley asked about the status of fee collections (firei 1 inspections, code inspections, Mr. McLaughlin stated that the only recourse thet town had to combat those that didi not pay certain Mayor Bellflowers asked where are thei interns would be able to work within town hall. Mr. McLaughlin responded that the TAP program contract with the military was recently executed Mayor Bellflowers asked if a receptionist position could be incorporated into the current year  etc).  fees was to place liens on their property.  and conversations were ongoing about the interns.  budget to start answer phones.  Mr. Holland asked for clarification regarding fy23-24 or fy24-25.  Mayor Bellflowers confirmed that he wanted the position to come from the fy23-24 budget. The board was in consensus with including the position in the current budget and making the Mr. McLaughlin explored thei ideaofhaving: ai modular unit constructed, which would cost roughly Commissioner Marley noted that ai modular unit was only at temporary fix and that thet town needed Mayor Bellflowers asked what it would take to convert the space in front oft the mayor's office to Commissioner Legge responded that converting the alcove space was also a temporary fix, and did not address the needs oft the other staff positions needed. He suggested a building expansion.  alcove in front oft the mayor's office as an office space for that person.  $500k.  ald long-term solution. ar receptionist area.  There were no additional questions.  Fire Chief Charles Lopez spoke to his departmental priorities, which were to unfreeze 3 Fire Fighter positions, increasing the automotive maintenance budget by 1$0k, and pay adjustments withs salary ranges. Hel highlighted thei need for the maintenance on the vehicles because thel budget Commissioner Craver asked who installed the parts to the vehicles when they received them. ChiefLopez advised that there were two different companies that performed maintenance. Mayor Bellflowers asked ift the department was requesting $10k or $20k.  was decreased in the prior fiscal year.  Chief Lopez advised that they were only requesting the $10k that had been removed from their  budget previously.    Mayor Bellflowers asked why the three fire fighter positions had been frozen.  Mr. Holland stated that the positions were frozen ini response to a directive from the Town Manager  in 2021.  Chief Lopez elaborated that the positions were frozen and unfounded.  Mayor Bellflowers asked what the impact was of not having the additional fire fighters. ChiefLopezi responded that activity levels were very high and that he as the Chief, along with the Deputy Chief and Fire Marshall were running calls and that he did not get to attend certain Bobby Carter, Fire Marshall spoke to the fire fees being collected from the commercial businesses in town. He spoke in support of using a collection agency to retrieve outstanding fees that were Mayor Bellflowers asked for a recommendation from staff regarding the fee collections to be  meetings of an administrative nature.  not collected.  brought before the board at a later date. There were no additional questions.  Captain Mitch Deaver spoke on behalfon behalfofthe police department priorities which included higher pay, higher staffing levels to compete with thei increased resident population, and additional Commissioner Legge asked how many vehicles the department was looking to replace. Captain Deaver responded that they were looking to replace 5 vehicles.  vehicles. He stated that the department was trying to meet FBI standards.  Commissioner Craver asked ift the departmental cars were serviced and repaired on site. Captain Deaver stated that it depended on what the problem was, but in general routine  maintenance happened on site.  Commssioner Scarola asked what kind of cars were being requested.  Captain Deaver responded that they were requesting 5 marked cars in addition to a mobile Commissioner Scarola asked ift they were looking to replace 5 vehicles with the newly requested  command unit and victim'sr minivan.  ones.  Captain Deaver confirmed that was their intent.  Mayor Bellflowers asked if the police department request was a part of the CIP.    Mr. Holland confirmed that it was.  Mayor Bellflowers asked ift the town could surplus the 5 vehicles.  Mr. Holland stated that he would not recommend using those vehicles for surplus.  There were no additional questions.  Drew Holland, Finance Director spoke to priorities for the town, which included a tax increase, pay study, sales tax short fall preparation, and future parks and recreation bonds. He also noted that the fire fighter pay freeze saved the town money at the time. FF freeze saved money. He stated the following: the town did not want to have to dip into reserve; the COLA increase brought all employees to at least $15/hr; a tax increase could assist with the short fall ofs sales tax. Mr. McLaughlin stated that previously proposed tax increase would have only been $8 per home Commissioner Craver expressed concerns for increased taxes and how it could impact senior Mayor Pro Tem Dr. McCray expressed support for raising taxes and viewed it as an investment in  per month. citizens.  the community.  Commissioner Scarola also expressed support for a tax increase.  There were: no additional questions.  Don Sisko, Director of Public Works echoed the sentiments of the Fire Department regarding the extreme maintenance costs on vehicles. He added that some vehicles even needed to be serviced He further spoke to the current status of ARPA funds, corresponding projects, the status of the streets and their maintenance; particularly pringle way which was deemed the worst street in town. He also requested a trash truck which was currently 14 years old. Lastly, he highlighted that there  in charlotte.  were only 427 plots left available for the two cemeteries that the Town had.  Commissioner Craver asked where the flum was located.  Mr. Sisko pointed out the location. There were no additional questions.  Lamarco Morrison, Parks and Recreation Director, noted that parks and recreation ranked highly among public safety regarding what people looked for within a quality neighborhood to livei in. He noted that there were no operational costs included in his budget. However; he was looking into grants for a more inclusive playground. Mr. Morrisson also expressed safety concerns    regarding the tennis court; how funding for its maintenance and upkeep usually gets cut from the budget; and how ini two years it would be beyond repair. Lastly, he addressed the growing amount of special needs population in the community; how special populations required a specialized person to assist with the workload, particularly with disabled veterans and disabled seniors; and  the need for an additional senior center.  Mayor Bellflowers asked where a Senior Center would go. Mr. Morrison stated that it would be near where the golfcourse was.  Mr. McLaughlin spoke to aj potential easement with a local developer on the golfcourse. Mayor Bellflowers stated that the board was not obligated to do anything with the proposal from the local developer regarding the easement and suggested that the proposal was too premature. Commissioner Legge ask ift the storage unit structure on the golf course was a concrete slab.  Mr. Morrison responded that it was asphalt.  The consensus of the board was not to take any action on the easement, however they were in support of phase 1 for heritage park and moving forward with the corresponding funds.  OFFICIAL COMMENTS  Mayor Pro Tem Dr. McCray looked forward to engaging the legislative delegation regarding some  ofthei initiatives discussed at the meeting. PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no public comments made. STAFF COMMENTS  Mr. McLaughlin thanked staff for their work on the presentation.  ADJOURNMENT  Seeing no additional business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15pm. Motion by Commissioner Legge, seconded. by Commissioner Scarola, omlgriedunmimousy, to  adjourn the meeting.  SBAL  ATTEST:  dae  AAB 15    Ashley Wyatt, CMC, NCCMC Town Clerk